Just wanted to put in my 2 cents about the "martial arts vs handguns" thing.
First off, I wouldn't say spending money on MA is a waste, just because it's like any other hobby, and people simply find MA fun.
About the handgun thing: we all associate "defending ourselves" as a mugger for some reason. In these instances, yes, almost for sure the mugger will pull a gun on you, and yes, I personally believe that in the vast majority of instances, this would render MA relatively useless. Yes, there are "defend against gun" techniques, but being an enthusiast in firearms as well as MA, I can say with at least some confidence that the guy with the MAC-10 will win over a really good chokehold. That said, if I guy pull a gun on you, give him the keys to the damn Volvo.
But contrary to that instance, most confrontational instances aren't muggings. They're situations of conflict that just get out of hand. The jerk at the bar, the fight over a parking space, I almost got in a fight (chose to walk away instead) with a guy who was upset because he ran through a busy intersection and I almost hit him. Oddly enough, the stats on confrontations that end in fights are greatly increasing among roadside incidents, products of road rage, really.
If you watch just a couple episodes of COPS, you'll notice that there's relatively few muggings in comparison to things like domestic disputes between neighbors or things of that nature.
It just turns out that scuffles aren't planned like muggings; they just happen because people get really mad at each other.
In these instances, no one brings a weapon with them, they just start slugging it out; which is why I clip pepper spray to my belt at all times. I'd like to say it's for muggers, but in plain truth, it's so when some jerk gets upset over God knows what, I can shut him up, and, because I have no morals, probably kick him in the stomach while he's down and spit on his face.
I use pepper spray like I do Cliff's Notes; I read the book and train in MA, but when it gets down to it, I'd rather finish the stupid struggle with as little trouble as possible.
Getting back to the other point - I guess the reason we use the mugger scenario to encapsulate the "self defense" idea for MA is because it's seems more noble. It's some innocent guy pitted against a thief, where it's a matter of bad guy versus good guy, and we'd hope that in this case the good guy knows something the bad guy doesn't, and gets the best of him.
In reality, things are more muddled, and the two guys duking it out fisticuffs are the owners of a Honda Civic and a Ford Explorer, both running late for work, getting upset, almost cutting each other off, who then pull over to the side of the road to argue, get more upset, then beat the living daylights out of each other.
The VAST majority, however, is that people who take MA do so because they simply like it, and because sparring and competing is like any other sport.
-Ramon http://razor.ramon.com
PS - Reading Genius is a joke. Hooray for me for being on-topic again!
